03/11/2013

With the recent tease of Spring weather, the dusting of snow this weekend, and the bitter cold wind this morning, I have come to this conclusion: Bring on six months of 120° heat. (For those playing the Celsisus game, that’s almost 49°)

The trip home was nice. At least as nice as can be expected. Thankfully it was for only a week so I didn’t want to poke my eyes out at being home for any longer. I love my family and all but I am much more content being confined to my own residence where I am free to do whatever without someone, after all these years, still asking inquisitively what I am doing. I did go to the Cleveland Auto Show while I was home and new car fever has hit me. I’m torn between a new Focus, which with the money I have planned on saving and the money I also get for my current car, I could realistically only finance about $6k tops. Then also for shits and giggles, I also priced out a Ford Edge. That was almost twice as expensive but realistic in price as well. But it has everything I am looking for and I’m quite tired of the two door v8 coupe feeling. The novelty of having the Mustang has worn off and it’s time for something different.

While home I did get the results of the Foreign Service Officer Test and I did not pass it. But, I wasn’t that far off. I know what I need to do differently on one portion of the exam, and what to brush up on for the other two parts to hopefully blow it out of the water next year. The narrative portion would be kind of tricky. I guess I’ll just have to practice writing about topics and my opinions on them to better prepare for what might be asked the next time around. Of course this also means that it would probably be in my best interest to at the very least, extend a year, go back stateside after I have tested again and wait and see.

I’ve also been devoting a lot of my time recently for another test. This time it is for rank. It would have been lovely to have tested, made it, sewed on then got out and went with the State Department job kind of as a final, "Fuck you" but alas, I might just have to make it and wear it for a bit. Another hope I had was that if I made it that I would get to sew on while downrange, but the earliest I would sew on I believe would be November. Sometimes I wish the AF was like the Navy where you can put the rank you made on but not get paid until your actual promotion date. At least that way you get to wear what you’ve earned and be called it versus having to wait, in some cases, almost a year before all that.

I will miss the English summer though. Despite the hit or miss temperature sometimes in this country, I feel it has one of the best summers. Comfortable temps during the months and daylight for almost a solid 18 hours each day is awesome. Next year around that time I will already be gone, so sadly, my last summer was this past summer. *sniff. tear.*

Blah. Short entry. Bring on the desert heat. And quickly.